as you well know, the obama campaign made an early decision to define mitt romney in may and june, coming out of the primary. went right into the states, sort of framing him as a plutocrat who didn't care about the middle class, mitt romney campaign reserved time for the fall, put $20 million into the fall but he was already defined. it ended up being too late. so the lesson is, going forward in 2016, will the real ad war begin in may and june and we're not waiting anymore for post-convention labor day schedule. >> another point, you're exactly right, another point that's important, mitt romney, the primarily took more out of him than people realized in terms of money he wound up having donors maxed out couldn't do anything until he became the nominee. thank you for your time. >>> next, syria readies chemical weapons as the crisis in that country escalates. former u.s. ambassador to nato nicholas burns joins me. >>> plus, hamid karzai's tough message to the united states. the nbc news exclusive with the president of afghanistan next on "andrea mitchell reports." twins. i didn't see them c